As the late Johnnie Cochran might have put it, "If the jeans were too tight, then she didn't put up a fight." As offensive and ludicrous as this defense might be in an assault or rape case in the United States, unbelievably, up until yesterday, it was completely legitimate in Italy. However, as the Times Online reports, Italy's top appeals court overturned a 1999 ruling that a woman wearing tight jeans cannot by definition be raped or sexually molested because removing skintight pants necessarily requires "collaboration and consent."

The court's ruling grew out of a May 2005 conviction of a 37-year-old man, identified as RP, who was convicted of sexual assault for molesting a 16-year-old by "inserting his hands inside the front of her jeans." RP appealed his conviction to Italy's high court, the Court of Cassation, arguing that under its 1999 precedent, his actions must be deemed consensual. The court rejected the argument and upheld RP's conviction, ruling that "jeans cannot be compared to any type of chastity belt."

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Tight Jeans Not a Chastity Belt, Rules Italian Court

As the late Johnnie Cochran might have put it, "If the jeans were too tight, then she didn't put up a fight." As offensive and ludicrous as this defense might be in an assault or rape case in the United States, unbelievably, up until yesterday, it was completely legitimate in Italy. However, as the Times Online reports, Italy's top appeals court overturned a 1999 ruling that a woman wearing tight jeans cannot by definition be raped or sexually molested because removing skintight pants necessarily requires "collaboration and consent."

The court's ruling grew out of a May 2005 conviction of a 37-year-old man, identified as RP, who was convicted of sexual assault for molesting a 16-year-old by "inserting his hands inside the front of her jeans." RP appealed his conviction to Italy's high court, the Court of Cassation, arguing that under its 1999 precedent, his actions must be deemed consensual. The court rejected the argument and upheld RP's conviction, ruling that "jeans cannot be compared to any type of chastity belt."